GMC · NHTSA safety record
Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.
Owners have filed 96 safety complaints about the 2011 GMC Yukon Denali with the US government. Of those, 2 mention a fire and no death is recorded. No recall campaign has been matched to this year, make and model.
The most complained-about system is the air bags, named in 26 complaints, 27% of the total. The typical failure was reported at 75,000 miles, the median across the 66 complaints that gave an odometer reading.
Compiled from NHTSA's complaint, recall and investigation files · Covers April 2011 to July 2019 · How this is counted
96
Complaints
0
Describe a crash
2
Mention fire
0
People injured
0
Deaths
A complaint is an unverified account by the person who filed it, not a finding of fault. One complaint is one ODI number, which is how NHTSA counts them.
No recall campaign was matched to this year, make and model. That is not the same as a clean vehicle: recalls are issued against production ranges, and the only reliable check is your own VIN.
One complaint can name several systems, so these add up to more than 96.
By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2017 at 32.
This is the year the complaint was filed, not the year the failure happened. The range runs from 2011 to 2019.
NHTSA has not crash tested the 2011 GMC Yukon Denali. Its New Car Assessment Program tests a selection of each year's vehicles and does not reach motorcycles, heavy trucks, motorhomes or most low-volume models, so an absence here says nothing about how the vehicle would perform. It is not a low score.
What owners have reported about this vehicle is below, and it is a different question: a crash test measures what happens to the people inside in a controlled impact, while a complaint records what broke during ordinary use.
Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.
fire · 120,000 miles
THE CAR SEAT WARMER IN THE BACK OF THE CAR CAUGHT ON FIRE WHILE OUR SEVEN YEAR OLD WAS ASLEEP IN THE CAR. HE WAS IN HIS BOOSTER SEAT. THE SEAT WARMER WAS NOT ON. (THIS WAS IN AUGUST 2018.) WE SMELLED A BURNING SMELL AND THERE WAS A SMOLDERING FLAME UNDER HIS LEGS. THE CAR WAS STATIONARY, NOT IN MOTION. IT WAS IDLING IN A PARKING LOT.
NHTSA complaint 11140003. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
fire · 120,000 miles
THE SEAT CAUGHT ON FIRE WHILE THE CAR WAS RUNNING. MY CHILD WAS SLEEPING AND SMOKE WAS COMING OUT FROM UNDER HIS BOOSTER SEAT AND HIS LEGS. I CONTACTED GMC AND THEY SAID THIS HAD NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE AND WE SHOULD CONTACT OUR INSURANCE COMPANY, THOUGH, WHEN WE TOOK IT TO THE TECHNICIANS AT THE DEALERSHIP (FOR THE INSPECTION), THEY SAW WHERE TWO WIRES WERE ON TOP OF ONE ANOTHER AND THE SEAT HAD CAUGHT ON FIRE. THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM. I SEARCHED ONLINE AND THERE ARE MANY STORIES OUT THERE, I AM JUST NOT SURE IF PEOPLE ARE REPORTING THEM---OR IF THEY REALIZE THAT GMC MAKES SIMILAR CARS SO CADILLAC, SIERRAS, AND OTHER CARS COME FROM THE SAME MOLD.
NHTSA complaint 11196959. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
THE TOP PORTION OF THE DASHBOARD IS CRACKING IN TWO PLACES. ONE OVER THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER AND THE OTHER CRACK IS BY THE PASSENGER DASHBOARD AIRBAG. THIS IS A KNOWN DEFECT WITH THIS GENERATION OF GMC/CHEVY TRUCKS AND SUVS.
NHTSA complaint 11231574. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
75,000 miles
CRACK IN DASHBOARD ON TOP OF AIRBAG
NHTSA complaint 11209131. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
TAMARA RECALL. THIS RECALL HAS BEEN SINCE 2016 AND STILL NOT RESOLVE. I AM ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY AND PCSING OVERSEAS. I HAVE TO SHIP MY VEHICLE AND THEY WILL NOT SHIP IT WITH AN UNRESOLVED RECALL. I AM NOT SURE WHAT ELSE TO DO...I HAVE CONTACTED THE DEALERSHIP AND GMC AND THEY OFFER NO RESOLUTION FOR MY ISSUES.
NHTSA complaint 11202627. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
105,314 miles
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 GMC YUKON DENALI. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE DASHBOARD WAS CRACKED IN THE MIDDLE. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO DIAGNOSED THAT THE DASHBOARD NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO SUNTRUP BUICK GMC (4200 I-70 NORTH OUTER RD, ST. PETERS, MO 63376, (866) 504-7492) WHERE IT WAS CONFIRMED THAT THE DASHBOARD NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 105,314.
NHTSA complaint 11183499. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
95,000 miles
DASHBOARD CRACKING THROUGH OUT THE TOP OF THE WHOLE DASHBOARD INCLUDING SURROUNDING THE AIRBAG ON PASSENGER SIDE. I WAS TOLD THIS HAPPENS IN MULTIPLE TRUCKS AT THE DEALERSHIP AS WELL AS SHOWN PROOF
NHTSA complaint 11171261. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
Complaints on file, same model year.
Every GMC on this site — 149 vehicles.
If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. How many repair attempts it takes, and how long you have to file, is set by the state you bought in and by nothing on this page.
A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.
Compiled and maintained by guarledes
Independent developer and analyst